The closure of schools at Christmas, a "very powerful brake" against the Covid-19 for Flahault

The holiday season is considered to be at risk for the spread of Covid-19.

However, the school holidays could play a positive role, estimated Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of global health of the University of Geneva, Thursday on Europe 1. "Closing schools is a very powerful brake", has t -he assures.

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While Prime Minister Jean Castex clarified on Thursday the modalities for the end of confinement from December 15, the French authorities remain attentive to the dynamics of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country.

And for good reason, the new contaminations seem to stagnate around 10,000 per day.

The fear that loosening restrictions will trigger a third wave is very present.

"You should know that if we lift the brakes, the risk is obviously that things will restart," responded Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, Thursday evening on Europe 1. But, for him, "the Christmas holidays will bring one more, an important interest against the circulation of the virus, because the children at school are propagators of the epidemic. So put the children on vacation, closing schools somewhere is a very powerful brake ".

"It is true that December 31 is a bit worrying"

Words that may surprise, because the holiday season is rather considered at risk in the public debate.

Family and friendly gatherings seem inevitable there.

"It is true that December 31 is a little worrying, because it is precisely a week after the Christmas holidays and all the people who will potentially become infected, and despite everything, in the family brewing risk infecting people at moment of December 31, "recognizes Antoine Flahault.

The latter also encourages us to "limit our interactions as much as possible".

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This does not prevent him from thinking that the end of the year school holidays will be "a very powerful brake, much more powerful than one can even imagine".

"We have been able to demonstrate this very clearly on many influenza epidemics and it will probably be the same today for these coronavirus epidemics," he continued.

"College and high school students are major vectors of the epidemic"

For the director of the Institute of Global Health of the University of Geneva, this phenomenon seems all the more likely that the plateau of new current daily contaminations could be partly due to "the reopening of schools after the All Saints holidays. ".

And this in parallel with other factors, such as cold, humidity and the fact that there is less ventilation at this time of year.

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"Because in fact, children, especially middle and high school students, are major vectors of the epidemic. They had not been so tested at the start and therefore we did not realize. But when they return home, they in turn transmit [the virus] to families and there is an increase in contamination which is happening because of that, ”he concludes.